LaTeX Troupbleshooting

• Citations
• Figures in LaTeX
• Printing on A4 paper
• Footnotes in figures and captions

Citations [top of page]

• Delimiters for Citations

  Question:
  Is it possible to change or remove the delimiters for citations? For example, if I want parentheses - (Johnson, 1994) - instead of square backets [Johnson, 1994].
  Answer:
  Yes. Easily. Create a style sheet with the line
  \def\@cite#1#2{*{#1\if@tempswa , #2\fi}*}
  and load it with the \usepackage{} command. It is safes to load it as the last package. Replace the red star with whatever you want in your text. You can also chose to put nothing there (Any blank will show up in the text, so be careful!)
  (This solution was found in the colaclsub.sty style sheet.)

• Citations in Capations

  Question:
  I want to use a citation in a caption. It doesn't work. What can I do?
  Answer:
  \protect it: \protect\cite{whomever}

Figures in LaTeX [top of page]

• Full-width figures in double-column mode

  Question:
  How can I use figures that go over both columns in double-column mode?
  Answer:
  use \begin{figure*} instead of \begin{figure}

• Positioning large figures in LaTeX

  Question:
  I have a full-page figure that LaTeX keeps putting at the end. I would like to have it integrated on a separate page in the flow of text. What can I do?
  Answer:
  LaTeX usually requires a certain minimum of text on each regular page. The maximum fraction of space assigned to figures is set by \topfraction (in single-column mode, or \dbltopfraction (in double-column mode). You can change this fraction with

  \renewcommand{\topfraction}{1.0} for single column mode, and

  \renewcommand{\dbltopfraction}{1.0} for double column mode.

Printing [top of page]

• Printing on A4 paper

  Question:
  How can I print on A4 paper?
  Answer:
  Besides using the option a4paper in you TeX document (e.g. \documentclass[11pt,american,a4paper]{letter}), you have to specify the paper size with the device driver. For dvips, try
  dvips -t a4 <yourdocument>
  The best way that I found to make the printer use A4 paper is to open Tray 2 in the printer (and leave it open), and put the A4 paper in Tray 3. Remember that there are lots of people who may be printing, so do it after hours, check the queue first (lpq -P<printer>), and restore the printer to its original state afterwards.

Footnotes [top of page]

• Footnotes in figures, boxes, etc.

  Question:
  Footnotes in figures don't work properly. Why? What can I do about that?
  Answer:
  In general, footnotes in TeX boxes (a figure is a TeX box) are tricky. You have two options:
  1. Use the minipage environment in the figure. Footnotes will appear within the figure and be counted separately.
  2. Use the this hack.

page by ulrich germann